By Mar Supnad

CAMP TOLENTINO, Bataan — Out of the 237 barangays in Bataan, 98 were identified as flood-prone areas where 84,136 families reside, PNP-Bataan reported during the Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment Meeting recently.

(PIXABAY / MANILA BULLETIN)

A total of 34 barangays were landslide-prone areas occupied by 5,905 families, Police Senior Insp. Victor Corpuz, deputy chief of Provincial Operations Plans Branch, said.

Meanwhile, two landslide-prone barangays in the towns of Dinalupihan and Bagac were being actively monitored by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of DENR.

Alex Tanciongco, MGB science research specialist, said Brgy. Pinulot, in Dinalupihan and Brgy. Pantingan, in Pilar are closely checked due to recent incidents of landslide.

He warned that most of the areas around the foot of Mt. Natib and Mt. Mariveles are prone to landslide.

All police personnel must undergo water search and rescue (WASAR) training as the rainy season persists, PNP-Bataan chief Police Senior Supt. Marcelo Dayag said.

During the Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment Meeting, Dayag said a total of 179 personnel will undertake the training slated in August.

This will bring a 100 percent trained police force as a total of 491 personnel already finished the WASAR.

Jose Mari Garcia, Manager of the Phil Information Agency here, also said that the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) is in the process of preparing relief goods enough for 7,000 households or 35,000 individuals.

PSWDO reported that each pack of relief goods contains eight canned goods, noodles, soup ingredients, 3-in-1 coffee and may also contain rice in case of adequate supply.

source: news.mb.com.ph

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By Mar Supnad

The Provincial Youth Council (BYPC) announced Tuesday that the upcoming Youth Month celebration this August will focus on health and social issues.

(PIXABAY / MANILA BULLETIN)

“During our recent meeting, mental health problems which include depression and suicide are among the issues raised by the member-agencies,” Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office Head Marilyn Tigas disclosed.

As such, BYPC will be holding in August a Healthy Lifestyle and Mental Health Awareness seminar for the members of the Pag-asa Youth Association of the Philippines-Bataan Chapter.

Meanwhile, after drawing flak in previous years brought about by being a non-performing asset (NPA), the new leadership of the youth has vowed to become productive members of the community and work for the interest of the public.

Precious Manuel, the newly-elected Federated president of Sangguniang Kabataan ( SK) who is an ex-officio member of the provincial board, said that she joined the youth organization not for profit but for service to the public.

In an impromptu interview with this writer, SK president, an accounting graduate, said that she also wanted to prove that the SKs can play a major role in pushing for the interest and welfare of the youth, contrary to the claim of others that the SKs are doing nothing except receiving their salaries.

“ I want to prove that we can work hand in hand with the local leadership of Gov. Abet Garcia to attain the objectives and programs intended for the youth,” pointed out Manuel..

Manuel and the other leaders of SKs in various towns and city took their oath before Gov Garcia inside Louis restaurant over the weekend.

Noting their major role in the community, Governor Garcia challenged the new leaders of the Sangguniang Kabataan ( SK) in the province to unite and work for the betterment of the youth.

Gov.Garcia’s told the youth leaders that the election was just one day and “ it is now time to embrace your once political opponents for the sake of unity and the province.”

To give her moral support, Ms. Manuel was accompanied by her mother Maricel and the president of Association of barangay captains Basilio S Layug of Dinalupihan town, who is also an ex-officio member of the town council.“Ms. Manuel is bright, talented and industrious,” said Layug.

source: news.mb.com.ph

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By Mar Supnad

FREEPORT AREA OF BATAAN — Governor Abet S. Garcia has declared that the proposed transshipment hub project on this Freeport is now on the pipeline that will play a major role in the shipping industry.

The sprawling Freeport Area of Bataan in Mariveles town. (Mar Supnad / MANILA BULLETIN)

Gov. Garcia who was behind the creation of Bataan Freeport said that this seaport project will not only decongest Manila ports but can become the gateway to South East Asian countries and the rest of the world, being located along the mouth of Manila Bay and Corregidor.

In an interview with Business Bulletin, Gov. Garcia said that FAB, being the only Freeport along Manila Bay, can become an alternate seaport of Metro Manila once the proposed transshipment hub project is pushed through.

“International cargo vessels can then drop their cargoes here since FAB has a sprawling coastal area for transshipment to various countries and this will make the cost of trade cheaper,” pointed out Garcia.

Garcia was the author and father of FAB law when he was a congressman, converting the defunct and bankrupt Philippine. Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) into FAB.

Since its creation, FAB has become successful and number one provider of jobs in this industrial province.

The establishment of Bataan Freeport has also drawn various investors-local and international- due to various benefits FAB is offering to them.

In support to the Bataan Freeport, the Rouvia Yacht Philippines, a Filipino owned company led by its president Naval Architect and Marine engineer Realito Rubia, has been attracting foreign markets for exclusively manufacturing state-of-the-art yacht whose clients are mostly international figures.

A native of Mariveles town, Engr Rubia is now getting in touch with Gov Garcia and FAB chairman and administrator Emmanuel Pineda and seeking their support for his expansion program to meet the growing demands of foreign traders which he said will make Bataan Freeport more conducive to the shipping industry.

So with the Seafront Shipyard and Terminal port services, a private firm in Brgy Lucanin that plays a major role in shipping industry owned by the Ignacio family.

Engr Ronnie del Rosario, a developer of Seafront, said that a massive expansion is now being implemented by Seafront to also meet the growing demand of the shipping industry.

One supportive of FAB’s success is hotelier businessman Goody Ilagan who successfully set up the Camaya beach resort and hotel in Mariveles town. Ilagan also operates Ferry boat services from Camaya to Mall of Asia (MOA) and the latest one is the ferry services from Orion port to MOA, making the province nearer to Manila as it travels one hour only.

“FAB, no doubt, will become the gateway to Asian countries due to its strategic location and deep sea level that is said to be deeper that Manila ports,” added Garcia.

Bataan Freeport will also play a major role on the so-called China silk road, a $900 billion scheme of China that some reports said can kindle a “new era of globalization”, that will benefit its neigbhoring countries, being adjacent to

China sea.

The Fastest Growing Freeport in the Philippines

FAB chairman and administrator Engr Pineda also said that “FAB’s efforts to meet the growing demands of a highly competitive global investment environment made the FAB the fastest growing Freeport in the country.”

He added that FAB prides itself for “its highly skilled manpower pool, capable of supporting operations in manufacturing, semiconductors and electronics, shipbuilding, logistics, BPO, energy and tourism.”

source: news.mb.com.ph

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HERMOSA, Bataan – Around 508 families were given initially the other day housing units by National Housing Authority in Barangay. Mabuco, Hermosa, Bataan.
By Mar Supnad

Photo credit: iorbitnews.com

Initiated by Hermosa Mayor Jopet Inton and NHA OIC director for Pampanga, Bataan and Zambales area, Ines Gonzales, the distribution of housing units and titles of land were actually given to the respective families as part of the mayor’s housing program called “Katibayan ng Alokasyong Pabahay”.

Once they were given titles, the beneficiaries can then formally occupy their housing units although it needs a little renovation as these units have long been idle and neglected in the past administrations.

According to Inton, he talked with the leadership of NHA in December so the idle housing units could be given to homeless people but qualified beneficiaries in his town.

Aside from giving his constituents a decent housing, Mayor Inton also wanted to prevent that these units would be taken over by professional squatters or land grabbers as what being happened in other areas where syndicates, the Kadamay group who are notorious in grabbing housing units and lands.

To ensure that these housing units are secured, Mayor Inton deployed security personnel to guard the area and secure the occupants.

The said housing units here was the first ever housing program initiated successfully by a local government unit through the coordination of NHA in a bid by Mayor Inton to provide decent housing to his constituents.

Among the beneficiaries are uniformed personnel from PNP and Bureau of Fire Protection.

source: news.mb.com.ph

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The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has started training employees to help in guiding the growing number of tourists from large cruise ships that now frequently call in this free port.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said that the agency, in cooperation with the Department of Tourism, rolled out a Basic Tourist Reception and Guiding Program to keep up with the rising demand for more tour guides.

An SBMA tour guide snaps pictures of disembarked tourists from the MS Ovation of the Seas cruise ship

“So far, the SBMA had trained three batches of new tour guides since February this year when cruise ships began regularly plying the Subic Bay Freeport route,” Eisma said.

“With each cruise ship bringing in from 2,000 to 5,000 tourists at each port call, and with about 20 cruise ship arrivals scheduled this year, we really need all the help we can get to manage this unprecedented influx of visitors,” she also said.

The employee-tour guides will be on-call for the part-time work. “They won’t be earning huge amounts of money, as they are doing it out of ‘malasakit’ for the SBMA,” Eisma explained.

An SBMA tour guide shepherds newly-arrived cruise ship passengers during a tour of the Subic Bay Freeport

The SBMA tour guides are picked from various departments that serve as frontline customer-service units and are asked to undergo a two-day training program to enhance their oral communication skills.

The training includes delivery of spiel and a mock tour where trainees are given situations that required fast thinking and effective delivery, said SBMA tourism head Jem Camba.

Camba said that with each cruise ship arrival, a minimum of 20 tour guides are called on for duty. Bigger cruise ships like the MS Ovation of the Seas, the biggest in operation in Asia, require around 45 tour guides who would accompany Mandarin-speaking interpreters assigned to tour buses.

Tourists listen to an SBMA tour guide’s spiel on local culture during a visit at the Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar museum and heritage site in Bagac, Bataan

The SBMA tour guides, who are well-versed on Subic Bay and its environs, are tasked to provide precise information about local tourism destinations that will be passed on by interpreters to the mostly Chinese passengers of cruise ships arriving here.

Thompson Gatdula, an SBMA employee-tour guide, described the work as fun and educational.

“I get to know more about other people and their culture, as they get to know more about the Subic Bay Freeport and other local communities,” said Gatdula, who had accompanied tourists to as far as the Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, an open-air museum and heritage site in Bagac, Bataan.

“We’re doing this out of ‘malasakit’ for the SBMA and the country. Whatever we do here would reflect on us as Filipinos, so we have to be our best each time we interact with cruise ship visitors,” he added.

Like Gatdula, the on-call tour guides get a message each time their services are needed. This gives the full itinerary for the day and identifies the areas that the tourists are scheduled to visit.

“The job usually entails working and being on the road the whole day, but believe me, it is worth it,” said Gatdula. “When you make visitors smile, when you make them fall in love with the Subic Bay Freeport, that gives you a deep sense of accomplishment.”

A total of 13 cruise ship arrivals have been recorded in Subic Bay since February this year, and seven more arrivals are scheduled until October 2018. Eisma said that by then, an army of SBMA tour guides would be ready to make international cruise ship passengers appreciate Subic Bay Freeport and the Philippines more.

source: subicnewslink.blogspot.com/

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